Today, as i watched you walked up the stage receiving your badge from doctor he ruimin, my mind was in a jumble and in a dilemma..should i cheer you on, like what i would have done two weeks ago without a hestitation? after all, this is your big moment and you have earned it, i must admit..however, this is not two weeks ago..this is now..about 12 days after you started dao-ing me..is this the end of our friendship?will we ever be the same towards each other again?nevertheless, i still viewed you as my friend, as a friend whom i have offended, but still a friend..hence, i cheered you on..like what i will have done for the past 5 years..
You are the best band major that i have ever known, trust me..i know, i may have a tinge of biasedness here and there given that you are from my batch...but, i believe that nobody in the junior batches will ever dispute that fact..i am proud of what you have done for RIMB..proud for what you have done for our batch..but most importantly, proud of what you have done for your friends..even this year, even after you got into council, i still wondered whether i should nominate you for any posts or not..even after you have dao-ed me..the fact that you are a great choice for any of these top positions cannot escape the eyes of any of our batchmates im sure...no discredit to any other nominees..you guys are fantastic candidates as well..in the end, i felt that that was no point in doing so, as it is against council regulations to hold any exco position in any other CCAs...i do not want to put you in such a dilemma...but the fact that i have thought about it shows how much i think of your leadership..and where better than your days at RIMB as the band major..as OUR band major..as MY band major..you have the right balance of discipline and approachability...if such a word exists..juniors feel at home with you..but respect you nonetheless..batchmates love being with you..but know that there is a boundary that they must adhere to..it is not easy to be a band major on a prometheum year..with countless logistics stuff needed to do..that year, it was even harder, given that we have a japan trip to prepare for..do you remember how excited both you and i was?with me running to you every few minutes to ask if we have enough ppl to make up that trip?..it was truly memorable..and it must be said that you have excelled in this job well..prometheum was a resounding success..with more than 80% of the seats sold, which is quite fantastic...the japan trip was great as well..our batch really bonded through that experience..i still rmb us, me, you, benni and austin...emo-ing in some room in the osaka hotel..wondering about our next generation..about the batch to succeed us..whether they have the potential to do as well or not..given that SYF year is up next and we have a reputation to protect..it was through there that i saw your confidence shown through..that i know that RIMB has a rallying figure to go to now...you have made yourself a legend of RIMB, no doubt..you have really done a good job...
Right from the start, you were marked out from the batch to be something good..something great..something fantastic..yes, you were not as good as samuel pratically, but then again, who is? what made you different from the bunch of us is that you have the good points of everyone of us..you have the lameness of ryan, the logic of yingzhe, the skills of samuel, the discipline of benni, the people-orientated skills of lucas, the efficiency of lucas and so much more...you are the culmination of everything that is good of our batchmates..thats wad made you so likeable..so forgivable..so fantastic...during interviews'07..it was pretty obvious who the BM of our batch shld be...it is you from the start till the end..when matthew asked who i recommended for BM..the answer just came out easily,"Jerald". you are a marvellous figure for our batch..someone that everyone can look up to when they are down..someone everyone can depend on when they are upset..you are that fantastic, that important to us..during investiture'07..i was the one who initated the standing ovation for the BM and the DBM..after all..you all have done so much for the batch..i wouldnt initate a standing ovation for someone whom i feel doesnt deserve it..standing ovations have to be earned..not given..you are someone special..someone who deserves it without anyone asking...my decision was proven right just after REACT'07..it was the incident of the vibraphone breaking down..i was the one pushing it...yet, you didnt blame me at all..it was something that i still rmb up till today..and something that i still appreciate...
Why didnt i apologize to you for such a long time? Because i am scared..very scared...what am i scared of? i am scared of getting rejected by you..by you getting irritated and losing you forever...our original batch has only you, ryan, lucas,samuel,eric,austin, alastair, benni, russell, leonard and me left..the batch has gotten smaller by the year..we lost wenjie and jiahui, then han sheng..then yingzhe this year..i dunt want to lose you as well..blame me if i lack the courage for apologizing..but i really dunt want to lose anymore batchmates..10 batchmates is small enough..i dunt want it to be a single-digit number...
Whatever you do jerald, you will still be the bandmajor, MY bandmajor..the best i ever had..
